A few days, maybe a week went by. Ellowyne and Rufus cleared out one of the bedrooms so she could use it as a work room and a place for her to store her various sewing machines and craft items. He was happily building shelves and tables for her. She smiled to herself. One of the perks of living with and loving an engineer! 

As Rufus was happily hammering away, Ellowyne’s phone rang. When she saw the name of the caller, she told him who it was and that she probably should take it. “What? You want to miss out on measure twice, cut once?” he playfully asked. She smiled and said she’d be back soon.

“Oh, Dr. Bantam. Hi. Um, sure, I can talk a little while,” she said.

“I haven’t heard from you for a while,” Dr. Bantam said. “How are things with you? Are you still seeing Rufus?”

Ellowyne replied, “Actually, we decided to keep living together.  It seems the most logical step in our relationship.” She paused for a few seconds and added, “Did I tell you that his parents died from COVID-19 in Italy?”

“Yes, you did,” Dr. Bantam said. “How is he handling his grief?” 

“Better every day, thank you. There have been some intense moments but we’re approaching grief as a team.” 

Dr. Bantam didn’t answer right away. Ellowyne suspected that she might be quaffing her “special” tea. She also wondered if Dr. Bantam was trying to get Rufus as a new patient. 

She wasn’t wrong. 

“Now, Ellowyne, dear girl, if Rufus needs help, a good therapist, perhaps, do feel free to tell him to get in touch with me.”

“Sure,” Ellowyne said, nodding her head. 

“And you shouldn’t stop talking with me. I haven’t heard from you in a while and I want you to know I’d prefer setting up a virtual session with you. We could do that weekly.” Dr. Bantam stated imperiously.

“Let me think about it,” Ellowyne replied. “Even though we’re still in lockdown, I really don’t know when I would have free time.”

“I know,” Dr. Bantam said exuberantly. “I could virtually see you and Rufus together and work with him on his grief and you with your ennui!”

Ellowyne rolled her eyes. “I’ll let you know. Sorry, I need to go now. Goodbye!” 

She shook her head. Therapy was a good thing for many people. But it could only work in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Ellowyne had lost her respect for Dr. Bantam quite some time ago because she felt that Dr. Bantam was keeping her in therapy for the money. It had been years since she first started seeing Dr. Bantam, but there was no resolution to her so-called “chronic ennui.” In fact, her therapist seemed to enable her. And Ellowyne felt so much better without her tedious, soul-sucking sessions with Dr. Bantam. 

She walked into the room Rufus was renovating, and picked up the stud finder. She pointed it at him and said, “Beep, beep, beep! I just found my favorite sexy stud!”

They laughed as he pulled her into his arms. There was no more work on the room that day.

To be continued…